AndreasU

I have seen that my sword is in the german customs since yesterday. I hope to have it next week! Even if you post pictures, mine is nicer :lol: Just to make you remember:

Finally after two weeks of waiting, I just received the message from Tsuruta san that the little knife is on the way to germany. Hopefully it will survive the transport and customs as good than the first one did. Now counting down the days and checking the trace and tracking twice a day :lol:

This is just temporary as long my Waki is not there. Tha Waki will also have an Oshigata plus papers. These will also be in a "you call it " shadow box. Then I am complete for the next months. So far the theorie..... :lol:

That's how it looks like in my livingroom. Nothing special maybe. The Oshigata is framed in dark "wenge" wood. I don't know the english term for it. It looks like dark brown oak but has some thin light brown and dark brown stripes. The saya is "tiger stripe" one. It is hard to photograph as it is only visible under some special light conditions. Very nice wood!

Hmm, I walked through your thread and the first thing I thought: Why did this guy buy a sword in CHINA. I mean China is known for beeing the biggest fake producer in the world! That allone should had ring your alarm bells! Second: how did you come across this board? After you bought the sword or did you know it before. If the last thing, then this sword was to cheap for you...... third: if these pictures are all correct you got from the seller in advance, why did'nt you inform yourself in advance? This sword is so far away from a Japanese sword, in shape, in appearance, from the saya, that you can feel with a stick from distance that this can`t be true! You can get swords below uS$ 2000 easily, just buy an oil quenched blade, it is not nihonto but more "real Japanese" than any chinese fake can be. I am a new collector as well. The difference between you and me is that I searched the whole internet for information in advance, stumbled across Richard Steins brilliant page http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/nihonto.htm and from there I bought two books: The samurai sword from John M. Yumoto and Modern Japanese Swords and swordsmiths from Leon and Hiroko Kapp To collect this kind of swords, it need a huge interest in understanding the metallurgie and forging technics plus a minimum of interest in history. Prepared with this base knowledge mistakes you did can be avoid (and still then you can spend money for mistakes, believe me I know what I am talking about) It is true and true and mor true, what members of this board are saying. Before buying a sword, buy books, read, understand and then WATCH! and after all this consider to buy your first sword. And never do this in Ebay for your first buy. Save the money and go to a respected reseller ( I choosed AOI-Art.com but there are a lot of others as well) and buy your first sword. From there you will get good explanations and you can be sure that most of the time you get what you paied for. The Nihonto collecting community is so small that none of these resellers will trick you. If they try, what do you think how long it will take until the community will discuss about? You learned it the hard way......

Not nervous in a bad meaning. I am in an "anticipation" mode :lol: I think we both bought nice pieces! Ok, mine is a little nicer than yours.

Now, sword is paid and now I am waiting for my new gem. Is it just me or are you also nervous ervery time you bought something new? Andreas

Funny discussion... again. I don`t ry to find out what the one or other wants to imply with it`s sentences. The only thing I can say is the following. I bought one sword from someone here in the board, it was a nail, not bad described but it did not match my expectations. Not only the sellers fault, more mine! I bought one sword from AOI Art, had nothing in hand than the pictures he sended me in advance. It was exactly as described ond showed all "mistakes" in the pictures that it had in real. It was a 100% correct deal. Now I see this sword, it looks superb for the price, and I am sure it will be! So from my little experiences all I can say is that Tsuruta san trys to photograph a sword as best as possible and when I compare it with most other photographs in the I-net and the different sellers I have to say that he is the most professional. Discussing about polishing qualities is far in advance of my capabilities to judge that, as it is for most of the others here in the board............

Hmm, I have seen the sukesada before but the blade is not nicely forged. It`s very "rough" in my eyes. Just a "better" name. The one I am interested in is much more tight. Maybe beginners mistake but, hey, if I am totally wrong, give me a hint.... "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder", as we say in germany.

Yes it`s me who set it to hold. I did a search for that specific smidth but only thing I could find was that he worked at Edo time. I cannot find a ranking. What I like on the blade is the very fine tight forging. I am not a friend of suguha but as you mentioned the Bohi and sohi combination is quite "sexy". I is sad that the Japanese like to "make up" the hada with this white "Hadori". I am more a friend of sashikomi because it gives more contrast. But thats a question of taste. It is a good fit to my Gendai Kanenaga which has a complete different hamon. So I will have enough to study the next few months

I am close to buy this one but need some push again if it worth the value: http://www.aoi-art.com/sword/wakizashi/07330.html Please some comments Andreas

Some guys think that all nails they have will go for whatever they think. Even if it is a true Yasukini sword, in this condition it will sell best for 2.500- 3.500.

Rainer is a friend of one of my collegues. He owns several really impressive swords and the tassel was exactly as described. One of the very few original general tassels that are left. Man I wish I had some mone to buy one of his yasukuni swords.....

Slightly above my limit But a really nice one!!!

From the black stuff that is remaining on the backside, I would think that this was a part of an "inlay" in a saya or the tip of a kashira. The theme is a shishi which can often be seen on menukis but from the size I think it is more a part of on inlay.

Where is the Problem? It was a sword with a forging flaw. It was shortened and a new nakago was shaped. So far a very normal procedure. The only thing that is missing now is the mekugi ana. This has to be drilled anyhow sooner or later. So in this case the polisher decided not to drill it now. Doesn`t matter really because anyhow it was a low quality sword from a low quality smidth when I see the massive forging flaw. Andreas

Uhhh, I know what Stephen see`s. Is that a star stamp in the nakago? Try to get away that black stuff without removing the rust. It maybe is a good idea to use some bone in this area or just some warm water with a soft pad.

I don`t think it`s a fake because there is a good Hada and Hamon visible, but I am sure it was "altered" by using some strange stuff. Maybe it was this "miracle" polish that is sometimes offered on ebay? However, it needs a new polish to repair it. Andreas

$ 250 ??

Maybe it was just to heavy :D :D

Hi Board, I would like to have a katana Kake for my sword. But after I searched the whole internet I can only find these mass production low quality stuff. Where did you get your katana Kake and what is it looking liek. It seems in germany it is impossible to get quality racks, and until now I could not find other collectors ore dealers her that have proper products. Can someone support me here? Andreas

Not to guide you how to cheat but if you have the invoice on the package that shows the "real" purchase amount this helps a lot...... AOI Art is quite clever in this..... But you should ask them in advance what he will write on it.....

Hmm, no idea but the tang looks strange shaped! Andreas

You can use "Ibota". Thats what is used on it traditional. Most important is that the wood keeps the capability to "breathe" Andreas

Hi Richard, nice photo!! Can you enlighten me a bit how you did the setup? Is it the "Glasbottom" style? I am a proud owner of a Pentax K10d and would love to do some nice photos of my sword. Which lense did you use?